Road tax – pay as you go
May 8, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
In Australia we have a rather simple road tax system, we pay a certain fixed road tax, based on the car we drive, it seems fair at first glance, but when you consider some of us drive 50,000km a year while others 5,000km, it seems somewhat inadequate.
The Dutch have similar problems, but it’s all about to c hange. They are set to change the country’s road tax system by charging according to the vehicle type, actual usage, time of use and roads the vehicle is using. Using state of the art GPS equipment hooked up to a farm of computers, every vehicle will be tracked and a fee will be calculated based on usage.
For example, driving through a congested area at 5pm, when you can catch a train home, is going to cost you more than driving in a rural area where, arguably, cars are a necessity.
The revolutionary system will go live for freight transport in 2011 and be mandatory in cars by 2012. The Dutch government recently announced that there is simply no more room to build more roads, so this new scheme is set to reduce CO2 emissions and congestion.
The obvious problem is privacy, having your car tracked 24//7 may be good if it gets stolen, but not so handy if you’re big on personal privacy. The founders however, disagree, arguing that the information collected will be deleted once a fee is calculated.
The Neatherlands is a relatively small country in comparison to Australia, so the system may be a little harder to implement here, but never say never.
Source: Que
Print it: 
*****PRIMO!*****
Big brother, aaaargh!
No thanks!!! Let it stay in EU
we already have a pay-as-you-go system here.
its called fuel excise + gst
I have 2 cars a 1.6 and a 1.5 and live in country N.S.W and live 2 km from work. It costs me $25 a week for fuel
I dont give a rats!
Then its a simple matter to watch your speed and book you automatically, then add tiered pricing based on the road, date and time of travel, then question why and where you travel to, … the list goes on.
No thanks. I have no interest in having the government in my car every time I turn the key and I’m not stupid enough to think it would stop just with road tax.
Unfortunately the same people who voted to sell NRMA Insurance will probably be stupid enough to think this will save money too and have no ramifications later.
Dan
So why is the advertisement in Spanish and not Dutch?????
dan dacey,
dont worry mate,
they will just drop a b-o-m-b somewhere and then tell us the only way to beat terrorists is to use this system.
then you just watch majority of the population put their hand up.
the government can control us to accept anything with their little friend called “fear”
XR2 Capri,
mate thats one thirsty little 1.5L you have there. i mean you do 20k’s a week to get to work and it costs you $25???????
try shaking the air cleaner to rid some dust or something because I’d reckon it needs a service.
ha ha ha ha ha
Alternatively, XR_2 Capri might like to consider walking to work. Driving such a short distance each day can’t be good for the car in any case. Maybe that’s why the fuel consumption is up the clacker.
Carl – I believe the Spanish bit is due to a Spanish Company who are the worlds experts in congestion charging. When I worked on Melbournes Eastlink project in the Head office the contract for Eastlinks congestion charging equipment was being let to a Spanish Co. Not sure who they are though.
On another point, with the Netherlands being a small country joint on nearly all boundaries by other countries, how does this work if you out of the region. I presume it doesn’t. But I guess you Aussies are stuck on an Island so you’ll never get away from it. It will only affect metropolitan areas.
Nothing that a lead box around the GPS antenna can’t fix. Or put a breaker in the antenna lead. Take it off every now and then to keep the charges flowing, but leave it on to minimise tracking (and charging).
Governments will need to move away fuel excise when more cars start using electric power and even more efficient engines arrive. It is a natural progression.
Speeding fines issued as you drive will be the worst ‘innovation’.
a. I drive home for lunch
b. my wife drives as well 5km per trip “the 1.6″
c. we do drive to Orange or Lithgow or visit family on the weekend
d. we dont buy $4.00 vegimite sandwichs + $2.00 water for lunches per day we go home
e. I have a mate in Sydney with a 2.4 toyota and he spends $50 to $60 per week on fuel just to get to work 12km away and it not because of shitty fuel eco it the bullcrap traffic he deals with.
g. go the country areas it’s more expensive fuel but we have way shorter trips in the towns
eg my mate 12km for my mate = 20 minutes
for me Orange 52km away = 30 minutes
f. A total “average” of $25 per week for both cars not per car
I know you are joking TP but the amount I save per week is about $35 per week over my mate or about 1/2 a percent on a house payment.
sorry Andrew M
I know you are joking Andrew M but the amount I save per week is about $35 per week over my mate or about 1/2 a percent on a house payment.
No Name……That would explain it!!!
It’s getting to be a scary world, but i think we shouldn’t just cop it sweet from our politicians and just allow them to control our lives so much!!!
Problem is we all tend to roll on our backs and become submissive due to complete amazement of the cheek of the pollies. Speak out then vote em out.
XR2,
here is a novel idea to further halve your fuel bill,
dont travel home to get your lunch. make it in the morning or previous night and take it with you
woulldnt it be a great idea if the pollies had to withstand a 3 month probation period
They wouldn’t pass it Andrew M. Most pollies come up with more and more red tape just to justify their existence. What they should do if think the bigger picture as to why things go the way they do and not just penalise people for doing stuff they enjoy, smoking, driving, drinking.
I think you’ll find that most have a dubious history as well.
mate i know that will never happen.
if only i were king for a day………
andrew m
at an average of $14 per week I am throwing caution to the wind.
I dont like sogy salad sambo’s I like them fresh
I have 2 capri’s so I will put the GPS on the one I am doing up, it doesnt go very far
XR_2 Capri – how about making them at work fresh keeping stuff in the works fridge. If there ain’t a fridge tell the boss to get one in for 3 or 400 bucks.
Aww we’re being silly now :)
Nah
I agree with one of the first posts.
The incredibly HIGH petrol prices, over priced vehicles (in comparison to every other countries), the general higher costs of living (food, drinks, clothes etc)
Quiet frankly everyone pays a $hitload more just to live in Australia, let alone drive to work.
Someone who drives 40K+ kms a year (like me), already have to put up thousands of dollars more a year than the same person who travels the same distance in another country, who also paid half as much for his/her car.
Not only that, the ridiculous road regulations etc.. mainly speed cameras (should really be 10+ kmph over that should be fine, as this is the “un written” rule in the States, there are cameras but not as frequently placed as in Australia.
Pretty much, its just the government really encouraging public transport for the future, or atleast small, “green” vehicles on the road…
I dont disagree with that notion… but just that they let people suffer now, why dont they just rectify the public transport issue and make them better so people wont have to spend the extra 10 grand a year in comparison to about 6-7 years ago.
Its 21st century society people…
My father always told me if i dont get what i want then like what i get, only thing is… i like change, and i like this idea.
just one thing though, and i quote the article:
“The Neatherlands is a relatively small country in comparison to Australia..”
Im half dutch, and thats a massive understatement. you can drive across the country in less than 4 hours.
This kind of sucks – I really enjoy just going for a burl if I have a spare couple of hours over the weekend, and I really do not want the government telling me to stop! Evidently these days you have to be rich to continue enjoying motoring.
Also, I use my road car in car club events and track days – would the GPS tracker be recording every lap you do of Queensland Raceway and adding this to your charges, for example? What is to stop the govt charging for motorsport usage, under the guise of ‘environmental impacts’? Or nicking 4×4 owners for beach/bush driving? Then there is the whole speed issue – there is no way they should have the right to track-and-fine, which is no doubt the next step if our government was to enact this.
And another note – if comparing cars with public transport they really need to ramp up the PT system first. Knowing this firsthand as a daily passenger on Brisbane’s crowded rail system, I consider driving to be a better option as only fractionally more expensive but far more convenient. More regular, higher quality and cheaper services are needed.
I live and work in a country town and drive a 1.6. I understand those who are against the possibility of this system. I know this will mean big brother will be watching me, but for me its hard to get upset at a new system that is going to benefit me so much.
My biggest question is if this pay as you go system is introduced, does that mean we still have to pay the registration fees? I don’t like this idea 1 bit. Yeah use it for tolled roads but if your going to get taxed on every little bit you drive even on small country roads, get stuffed. We pay enough to have a car already let alone pay more. Fair enough if it only taxed driving in congested areas during certain times of day but not every road all the time.
Glen,
I don’t know if this is accurate. But when I first heard of this it was on Triple M and They explained it as replacing petrol excise, rego and tolls. GST will still be charged on petrol though.
Yeah, from what I hear it would supposedly replace fuel tax, registration costs and so on. Looking at governments in general, and our present one in particular, I would be very surprised if this eventuated however.
The Sarge is right…we don’t need this big brother/nanny state rubbish because we already have a “user pays” system in the form of petrol excise. The more you drive, the more you use. The more you use, the more you pay. Relevant to your engine size and other circumstances of course but it’s still relatively simple.
Jimbo,
dont be so sure that driving less k’s will save you $$$
i have a sweet 50 on the idea that charges will work on a sliding scale.
there will at least be a base charge like there is for water usage. they just wont call it “registration”.
like hell the government wont think of a way to get money of those that hardly drive, or go over seas for 6 months and leave the car in the garage
I like the idea – so long as it is administered well.
It’s a serious attempt to combat emissions by rewarding those who use their vehicles sparingly or use efficient vehicles. I’m tired of noisy, thirsty and road damaging V8s and larger 4×4s. If you choose to drive one, then I believe you should still have the choice – it will just cost you more.
It is the larger vehicles that cause the expensive maintenance to our infrastructure which could be put to good use elsewhere.
BAD…BAD…BAD